Cold
by Arsaem
Summary: His glare was cold, so very cold, and he hated her more than ever before. And she was afraid.
**This is part 4 of a four-part story written by three other writers for a prompt in the Pro-Bending challenge. You don't have to read the others before this, but it will make more sense if you do.**

 **Part 1: celestiana**

 **Part 2: Zutarakitten1**

 **Part 3:**

 **Part 4: me (obviously)**

 **Prompts:**

 **Knife (easy)**

 **No character names (hard)**

 **Word count: 875**

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 **Cold**

He came to her with bloodshot eyes, hatred and contempt and grief clear on his face. Tear streaks, she noticed as well, traced down his cheeks. He was exactly as she expected of him: broken, defeated, consumed with his pain. She hid a smirk behind a carefully veiled face, calling his name in surprise. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?" Her words were dripped with false sympathy and worry. Play the part, and soon he'd be hers. "Why-"

"You killed him." This actually took her by surprise, though she dared not show it. How could he possibly know? Unless...no, she'd never betray her. He must have found out on his own. Internally, she cursed. She had been certain her brother was too dull to figure out that that half-wit 'Freedom Fighter' as he called himself hadn't actually killed their oh-so-dear uncle. Then again, she never thought the Avatar would return to the world.

"You killed him," he repeated, and this time he stumbled back. He looked like he had been up all night. Probably had. She knew her brother had been close to their pathetic uncle, but not to this point. Perhaps three years was a bit too long. Long enough to fill _her_ brother with ideas of cowardice and treason. But it was time to get him back.

She knit her eyebrows together, forming a perfect mask of confusion. "Killed who?" She wondered how he found out. She had been so precise in her work. Absolutely no burn marks, the knife -sorry, _swords_ were in place, and witnesses to give a perfect picture of what happened.

"You know who," he growled. There was smoke trailing from his hands, flames licking around his fingers. The unnatural green fire was snapping dangerously, responding to the thudding beat of his breathing. It was then that she knew there was no talking her way out of this one. A sigh escaped her lips.

"Well, I suppose it's useless offering you a place by my side," she drawled, inspecting her nails as her mask finally broke, revealing the cold, sneering reality underneath.

"I'm going to kill you." His voice was so flat. It was almost unnerving, actually. She was so used to his spitting, fiery rage, complete with shouting and very sloppy bending to go along. This time...this time he was cold. Cold, save for the fire in his palm.

"I'd like to see you try," she smirked, leaping out of the way as he let loose his fury. "Oops, looks like you missed, Brother Dearest!" she taunted, landing perfectly on her feet without a hair out of place. He yelled as he punched out, sending several waves of red fire at her. His flames were hotter than usual. Interesting.

She didn't bother with blocking, save for the final blast which she couldn't jump away from. She stopped his attack dead in its tracks, and through the smoke she saw his panting form. Now that was an image she was more familiar with. Her weak, useless brother, now broken beyond all repair. She supposed it was a pity she hadn't been able to charm him back to her side. But she knew she'd sure have a hell of a time destroying him.

"My turn," she said, calling forth her mighty flames. The room lit up in blue, the green from the fireplace suddenly snuffed out by its greater opponent. "You could've come back home a hero, Brother," she murmured, before launching her attack. She heard his cry, knew he hadn't been able to block all of it. But when the heat died and the smog cleared, there he was, scorched and stumbling, but still very much alive. She sighed. "You just don't know when to give up, do you? Very well." She brought her fingers up around her. "It's your turn!" Lightning cackled around her, and a sense of thrill and power shot through her. "Say hello to Mother and Uncle for me!" she shouted, pointing two fingers out and sending the cold flame towards the vulnerable form of a pathetic boy who could have never become Fire Lord.

He didn't jump. He didn't back down. Her eyes widened in surprise when he instead reached out, two fingers pointed just like her, and _grabbed_ the lightning. The force pushed him back, but he grunted and held strong, streaking it through his arm and around him. He looked up, and in his eyes she saw all of his hatred, all of his grief. "Zu-" But then she let out a scream as the lightning came hurtling towards her, hitting the ground just below her feet. She flew backwards, hitting the wall, hearing a crack, pain flaring through her. And when she looked up, he was gone. But the room was consumed in flames, and the smoke was burning her lungs. The spot where the lightning hit bore a hole into her mind; he hadn't aimed to kill her. Hurt her, distract her, but not kill. And he could have. A breath escaped her. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of her brother, and that horrible, cold look in his eyes.

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 **To whoever is judging this, sorry it's so short. I had to deal with flying across country twice, make up homework, prom, and preparing for finals/graduation.**


End file.
